TONIGHT: Craig Owens, Ace Enders, The Gay Blades at Chain Reaction

If you're one of those nervous-neddy (nellie?) types that avoid Chain Reaction in Anaheim because you're worried about looking like the creepy old dude/dudette among a sea of teenyboppers, you probably don't know anything about this show. Which is a shame. I'll admit that I don't know a ton about headliner Craig Owens (of Chiodos), or Ace Enders. But I do know about one of the other bands on the bill: The Gay Blades (pictured). OK, sure, they only initially caught my attention because of their wacky name (we're sort of susceptible to that around here, check out Doug Wallen's article on AIDS Wolf, in concert at Alex's in Long Beach tomorrow), but they're actually sort of awesome. The duo (Clark Westfield and Puppy Mills--how can you not be charmed by a guy named "Puppy"?) specialize in something they dub "trash pop," though it can be probably closer associated with the chaotic, noisy "emo" of Panic! at the Disco, with occasional veers into Oberst-esque territory ("Why Can't I Grow A Beard?"). Definite it however you'd like, it's often a lot of fun (check out "He Say She Say" and "Mean Muses"), and this fun spirit extends to even their MySpace, which mixes in their bad reviews along with the good ("The Gay Blades have a shitty band name, and play something we assume they don't like to call emo, even though their singer does that stupid, annoying thing where he allows his voice to crack to feign real emotion," said The L Magazine, whatever that is).

Show starts at 7 p.m., tickets are $15 at the door. Lucky for you, Chain's Web site proclaims, "I HAVE JUST RELEASED A HAND FULL OF TICKETS !!!"